Daring Bakers: Sans Rival

 Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.

NOTE: I did not make the Bibingka, although it did sound good! I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit intimidated by the thought of making vegan meringue. 

But you know what? 

It actually worked. 

Read on, my friends!

Sans Rival

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Vegan Meringue (a soft meringue)

Equivalent of 10 Ener-G Egg Replacers (I know, it's a lot! Include the necessary amount of water as well)

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. pectin (powder)

1 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 cups ground, toasted cashews (I used almonds) + extra chopped nuts for garnish

1 recipe of your favorite vegan buttercream icing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to moderate 325°F.
2. Line cake pan bottoms with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat Egg Replacer, pectin, vanilla, and water on medium until foamy. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)

4. Fold in ground nuts.

5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm.

7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

8. Make your favorite vegan buttercream recipe. 

9. Alternate layers of the meringue with the buttercream.

10. Frost the edges and top of the meringue cake and press the chopped nuts onto the sides for garnish. Ta-da! You're done!

Honestly, I'm just shocked that my vegan meringue turned out. I combined two recipes, the original meringue recipe and a vegan meringue I found online (but it took two hours to make, which is why I decided to combine the two recipes.) As mentioned at the beginning, this meringue is soft like a cake, which I'm assuming is how it's supposed to be for this recipe. 

The cake was utterly delicious. I put a bit too much icing on mine, but it was very sweet and delectable. I really don't have much else I can say about this recipe. 

Thanks for the challenge, Daring Bakers! 

Much love,